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Embryology in the Quran: Difference between revisions
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Embryology in the Quran is often criticised from a modern scientific perspective. More details including references are given throughout this article, but the main criticisms are as follows: | Embryology in the Quran is often criticised from a modern scientific perspective. More details including references are given throughout this article, but the main criticisms are as follows: | ||
#A number of verses<ref>{{Quran|23|13}}, {{Quran-range|70|20|22}}, {{Quran-range|80|18|19}} See discussion in the Nutfah Stage section.</ref> collectively demonstrate a belief that the earliest | #A number of verses<ref>{{Quran|23|13}}, {{Quran-range|70|20|22}}, {{Quran-range|80|18|19}} See discussion in the Nutfah Stage section.</ref> collectively demonstrate a belief that in the earliest stage of development semen is placed in the womb for a known term, where it undergoes various stages of development (as also taught by Galen and in the Jewish Talmud). See [[Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith|this article]] for the most comprehensive explanation and evidence. Furthermore, there is no sign that the author of the Quran was aware of the female egg (ovum).<p>In reality, a single sperm cell penetrates and fuses with the female ovum. This fertilised egg, called a zygote, is then pushed down the fallopian tube for a few days. On the way, cell division begins, and this multi-celled cluster, now called a blastocyst, implants in the uterus (womb).<ref>{{cite web| url=https://crh.ucsf.edu/fertility/conception | title=Conception: How it Works | publisher=University of California San Francisco - Center for Reproductive Health | accessdate=27 January 2019}}</ref></p> | ||
#The embryo is then said to be congealed blood. <ref>{{Quran|23|14}}, {{Quran|22|5}}, {{Quran|40|67}} See discussion in the 'Alaqah Stage section.</ref> All the classical [[Tafsir|tafsirs]] (exegetical commentaries) understood the meaning of 'alaqah to be blood or congealed blood, and clotted blood is a definition of the word in classical Arabic dictionaries. Regardless of alternative meanings for this Arabic word, it does not make sense to use a word whose main definitions include an explicit biological meaning (clotted blood) in a description of a biological process (embryology) if that is not the intended meaning; certainly, from the point of divine authorship of the Qur'an, such imprecise meaning would throw into doubt the Qur'an's claim to be "clear." The choice of word now causes a well justified suspicion of inaccuracy, and for centuries misled people into thinking that the embryo is at one stage congealed blood (an | #The embryo is then said to be congealed blood. <ref>{{Quran|23|14}}, {{Quran|22|5}}, {{Quran|40|67}} See discussion in the 'Alaqah Stage section.</ref> All the classical [[Tafsir|tafsirs]] (exegetical commentaries) understood the meaning of 'alaqah to be blood or congealed blood, and clotted blood is a definition of the word in classical Arabic dictionaries. Regardless of alternative meanings for this Arabic word, it does not make sense to use a word whose main definitions include an explicit biological meaning (clotted blood) in a description of a biological process (embryology) if that is not the intended meaning; certainly, from the point of divine authorship of the Qur'an, such imprecise meaning would throw into doubt the Qur'an's claim to be "clear." The choice of word now causes a well justified suspicion of inaccuracy, and for centuries misled people into thinking that the embryo is at one stage congealed blood (in reality an embryo is at no point blood nor a clot of blood<ref>{{cite web| url=https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Timeline_human_development | title=Timeline human development | publisher=University of New South Wales | author=Dr Mark Hill| accessdate=27 January 2019}}</ref>). Similarly, for the same reason it would not make sense to use this word while intending blood clot as a mere visual analogy. | ||
#The Quran claims that bones are formed before being clothed with flesh.<ref>{{Quran|23|14}} See discussion in the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> In fact cartilage models of the bones start to form at the same time as and in parallel with surrounding muscles, and this cartilage is literally replaced with bone.<ref>See discussion and scientific references in the sub-sections to the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> | #The Quran claims that bones are formed before being clothed with flesh.<ref>{{Quran|23|14}} See discussion in the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> In fact cartilage models of the bones start to form at the same time as and in parallel with surrounding muscles, and this cartilage is literally replaced with bone.<ref>See discussion and scientific references in the sub-sections to the Bones and Clothing with Flesh Stages section.</ref> | ||
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The word translated “seed” in Pickthall’s translation is nasl, which means progeny (i.e. descendants). | The word translated “seed” in Pickthall’s translation is nasl, which means progeny (i.e. descendants). | ||
نسل nasl - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf Lane’s Lexicon] Suppliment, page 3032</ref><ref>Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust [turabin تُرَابٍ], then He said unto him: Be! and he is.<br>{{Quran|3|59}}</ref><ref>We created man from sounding clay [salsalin صَلْصَٰلٍ], from mud [hamain حَمَإٍ] molded into shape;<br>{{Quran|15|26}}</ref> This was also the opinion of classical scholars such as | نسل nasl - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume8/00000286.pdf Lane’s Lexicon] Suppliment, page 3032</ref><ref>Lo! the likeness of Jesus with Allah is as the likeness of Adam. He created him of dust [turabin تُرَابٍ], then He said unto him: Be! and he is.<br>{{Quran|3|59}}</ref><ref>We created man from sounding clay [salsalin صَلْصَٰلٍ], from mud [hamain حَمَإٍ] molded into shape;<br>{{Quran|15|26}}</ref> This was also the opinion of classical scholars such as Ibn Kathir. | ||
Verses like these refer to Adam specifically, that [[Creation of Humans from Clay|man was made ''from'' clay]] (min مِّنْ means 'from' or 'of'), and that clay was a building material which was moulded and shaped, and not a catalytic compound as some apologetics claim in an attempt to link the Quran with one theory about the origin of all life on Earth. | Verses like these refer to Adam specifically, that [[Creation of Humans from Clay|man was made ''from'' clay]] (min مِّنْ means 'from' or 'of'), and that clay was a building material which was moulded and shaped, and not a catalytic compound as some apologetics claim in an attempt to link the Quran with one theory about the origin of all life on Earth. | ||
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An example of nutfah usage can be found in a pre-Islamic poem where it is used to mean “the small quantity of wine that remained in a wineskin”.<ref>Irfan Shahid, “Byzantium and the Arabs in the sixth century. Volume 2, Part 2”, p.145, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2009</ref> | An example of nutfah usage can be found in a pre-Islamic poem where it is used to mean “the small quantity of wine that remained in a wineskin”.<ref>Irfan Shahid, “Byzantium and the Arabs in the sixth century. Volume 2, Part 2”, p.145, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2009</ref> | ||
Verses 80:18-19, and 77:20-22 together with 23:13 strongly imply that | Verses 80:18-19, and 77:20-22 together with 23:13 strongly imply that a small amount of semen is stored in the womb and developed into the embryo, as confirmed in the hadiths and [[Greek and Jewish Ideas about Reproduction in the Quran and Hadith|previously taught by the Greeks and in the Jewish Talmud]]. | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|From what thing [shayinشَىْءٍ] doth He create him? From a drop of seed [nutfatin نُّطْفَةٍ]. He createth him and proportioneth him}} | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|80|18|19}}|From what thing [shayinشَىْءٍ] doth He create him? From a drop of seed [nutfatin نُّطْفَةٍ]. He createth him and proportioneth him}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran-range|77|20|22}}|Did We not create you from a base fluid [ma-in maheenin مَّآءٍ مَّهِينٍ]? Which We laid up [jaAAalnahu جَعَلْنَٰهُ] in a safe abode [qararin makeenin قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ], For a | {{Quote|{{Quran-range|77|20|22}}|Did We not create you from a base fluid [ma-in maheenin مَّآءٍ مَّهِينٍ]? Which We laid up [jaAAalnahu جَعَلْنَٰهُ] in a safe abode [qararin makeenin قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ], For a known term?}} | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|23|13}}|Then placed him [jaAAalnahu جَعَلْنَٰهُ] as a drop (of seed) [nutfatan نُطْفَةً] in a safe lodging [qararin makeenin قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ];}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|23|13}}|Then placed him [jaAAalnahu جَعَلْنَٰهُ] as a drop (of seed) [nutfatan نُطْفَةً] in a safe lodging [qararin makeenin قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ];}} | ||
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As can be seen in the above quotes, verses 77:20-21 closely parallel 23:13. Both say "We placed it (jaAAalnahu) in a safe abode (qararin makeen)", and one uses the word nutfah while the other uses the words maa' maheenin ('water distained'). Maa' was another common euphemism for semen. The 'hu' ending to jaAAalnahu in both verses can mean him or it, and probably means the former in 23:13 ('We placed him'). However, in 77:21 it must mean the latter ('We placed it') in reference to the liquid because the previous verse uses the 2nd person "you" and then mentions the liquid. | As can be seen in the above quotes, verses 77:20-21 closely parallel 23:13. Both say "We placed it (jaAAalnahu) in a safe abode (qararin makeen)", and one uses the word nutfah while the other uses the words maa' maheenin ('water distained'). Maa' was another common euphemism for semen. The 'hu' ending to jaAAalnahu in both verses can mean him or it, and probably means the former in 23:13 ('We placed him'). However, in 77:21 it must mean the latter ('We placed it') in reference to the liquid because the previous verse uses the 2nd person "you" and then mentions the liquid. | ||
It is sometimes claimed that safe abode (qararin makeen) in 23:13 refers to the female ovum rather than the womb. However, critics note that this interpretation ignores the same phrase in 77:22 where it would not make sense of the words "For a known term", and that the ovum is penetrated by a single sperm cell and not the "fluid" (maa'). | |||
The term ‘nutfatun amshaajin’ in verse 76:2 could alternatively refer to the sperm-menstrual blood union of Aristotle and the ancient Indian embryologists, | Indeed, a common criticism is that the Quran makes no mention of the female egg (ovum). In response it is sometimes claimed that 'nutfatun amshajin' (amshajin means mixed<ref>أَمْشَاج Amshajan - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume7/00000245.pdf] Volume 7 Page 2717</ref>) in {{Quran|76|2}} includes the female gamete (ovum).<ref>Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm [nutfatin amshajin نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ], in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts), of Hearing and Sight.<br>{{Quran|76|2}}</ref> Critics counter that this is merely an apologetic assumption and that in any case the sperm cell is no longer swimming in male semen at the time when it reaches the ovum (see the [[Embryology_in_the_Quran#Mingled_male_and_female_fluids|Mingled male and female fluids]] section below). | ||
The term ‘nutfatun amshaajin’ in verse 76:2 could alternatively refer to the sperm-menstrual blood union of Aristotle and the ancient Indian embryologists, but more likely the two semens hypothesis of Hippocrates and Galen ([[Sources_of_Islamic_Theories_of_Reproduction|which is evident in various hadiths]]), which in turn was derived from the readily observed mingling of semen and vaginal discharge during sexual intercourse. | |||
Some critics argue that in fact, the Quran displays an understanding that is contrary to the role of the ovum in procreation, for verse 2:223 states that wives are tilth. This suggests they are like the earth, which simply provides nutrients and receives the seed from the male.<ref>Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) go to your tilth as ye will, and send (good deeds) before you for your souls, and fear Allah, and know that ye will (one day) meet Him. Give glad tidings to believers, (O Muhammad).<br>{{Quran|2|223}}</ref> | Some critics argue that in fact, the Quran displays an understanding that is contrary to the role of the ovum in procreation, for verse 2:223 states that wives are tilth. This suggests they are like the earth, which simply provides nutrients and receives the seed from the male.<ref>Your women are a tilth for you (to cultivate) go to your tilth as ye will, and send (good deeds) before you for your souls, and fear Allah, and know that ye will (one day) meet Him. Give glad tidings to believers, (O Muhammad).<br>{{Quran|2|223}}</ref> | ||